Primeval: Series 4, Episode 4 – Dork Review

Another week of ITV’s Primeval powers past, and you might be surprised to hear it has a dinosaur in it. Oh, and there’s shouting and shooting. Hannah from S Club 7 demonstrates some girl power. Does that help discern it from the others at all?

This one also features unrealistic computer hacking and a bit of teenage acting. Read on to find out whether it’s improved from a slightly disappointing start.

Skins Get Skinned

The main storyline of this episode involves a dinosaur “incursion” in a school. Which means it’s time for a popular TV sport: Awkwardly written teenagers, often played by people who clearly haven’t been teenagers for a while.

I’ve seen worse, but still, some of the teenager-writing here makes Skins look like Shakespeare. There’s a decent play for poignancy towards the end, but some of it really is cringe-worthy. And I know a teenager being chased by a fantasy monster automatically sheds most of their IQ points, but even so, they’re pretty stupid.

And at the end of this storyline, the monsters are gunned down, with minor injuries to one main character. I think what annoys me about this show is that defeating the beastie by charging in and shooting it has very little resonance. Yes, Doctor Who sometimes has torturous made-up-scifi explanations of why the Doc must make sacrifices to win, but at least it forces him to feel something.

Travelling Subplot Theatre

To inject some positivity, some of their subplots are quite interesting. There’s the mysterious old man guiding new boy Matt, who is also harbouring a woman from the past. In fact, they seem to be giving him a big push. Fortunately, actor Ciaran McMenamin is quite likeable, although I don’t know if old-school fans are annoyed by him being favoured over existing characters.

Oh, and Hannah from S Club 7 (“Spearritt” is too hard to spell and I’m not sure her character has a name) gets angry about animal rights and decides to load a mammoth onto a lorry. There was a swelling violins scene with her and Jess (the secretary who can’t really act), I think I was meant to be rooting for her and animal rights. Instead, I was thinking about what a wide-eyed moron she was.

So, not a great Primeval this week. Once these subplots come to fruition, hopefully we’ll get some stories with a bit more complexity and meaning. Until then, I look forward to more random shooting and “dinosaurs have feelings too!” moans.

Nick learned to read and write at an early age. This has developed into an unhealthy need to either write stories or consume them for later dissection. He reviews film and TV on Dork Adore and The Digital Fix, lives in London and enjoys a nice white beer.

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[…] doing an admirably ropey job on teenagers last week, this time Primeval takes on another time-honoured TV stereotype: the secretive, hostile country […]

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